Tavoris Cloud ready for Clinton Woods on Friday
by SC on Aug 25, 2009 12:44 AM EDT
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The season finale of ESPN2's Friday Night Fights is shaping up to be a good one, with two major title fights that have plenty of intrigue and good chances for knockout finishes.
The double main event in Hollywood, FL, at the Seminole Hard Rock will feature venue regular Juan Urango (21-2-1, 16 KO) defending his IBF junior welterweight title against hard-punching veteran Randall Bailey (39-6, 35 KO), as well as a vacant IBF light heavyweight title clash between rugged Englishman Clinton Woods (42-4-1, 24 KO) and another big puncher, young Tavoris Cloud (19-0, 18 KO).
Cloud says he's itching to go:
``Winning a world title will be a lifelong dream accomplished,'' Cloud said after a workout Saturday at Canino's Kickboxing and Boxing Gym in Dania Beach. ``I know this is a huge opportunity, and that's why I have worked out so hard for the fight.''
Cloud, 27, earned an IBF mandatory challenger ranking thanks to his 19-0 record and 18 knockouts. The sanctioning body's title became vacant after Chad Dawson renounced the belt and opted for a bout against Miami's Glen Johnson in November.
``I am not upset that Dawson decided not to fight me,'' Cloud said. ``Sooner or later I was going to fight for a title, whether it was Dawson or someone else.''
Woods has been among the top 10 light heavyweights the past eight years, including a three-year run as IBF champion.
``He might have the experience and more fights, but that won't mean anything when he gets in the ring,'' Cloud said. ``All Clinton Woods needs to do is show up, and I'll take care of the rest.''
Despite the fact that Cloud is from Florida, this will be his first fight in the state since his pro debut in 2004. He has operated mostly in the midwest, with his last 10 fights taking place in Illinois and the previous four in Indiana. The rest of his fights took place in North Carolina.
Cloud also hasn't fought in over a year, which I still say is one of the bigger problems he had in landing a fight with Dawson. He stayed inactive, didn't build a name at all, and sat on his mandatory ranking. If he's rusty at all, the crafty Woods could well take the "0" and deny him that title he wants.
We will have live, round-by-round coverage and scoring of FNF this week, as I'm quite looking forward to both of these fights.
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well the fact that there will be live RBR is pretty intriguing. so what are the chances for wars in either of the main events?
The Dude Abides
by battle axe of doom on Aug 25, 2009 12:56 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Really good in Urango-Bailey, I think. Reason to hope for Cloud-Woods, I think.
by SC on Aug 25, 2009 1:00 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I don't think either one will be a wat
But both will have solid moments. Urango’s too big of a puncher and Bailey’s chin is too shaky for him to go straight after Urango, but the fight will almost certainly end with a knockout. Woods and Cloud are both more boxer-puncher types, and while there won’t be nonstop action, I could see there being some really solid exchanges.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
by Brickhaus on Aug 25, 2009 1:02 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Aren't you just Mr. Prolific tonight
Just got home from work – nice to get some good reading material.
A lot of people are picking Cloud by wide UD or knockout, but I think people are sleeping on Woods a bit. Sure, he looked like crap against Tarver, but (a) that’s the worst he’s looked in a long time, (b) he was beating world-class fighters pretty recently, © Tarver is a southpaw and Woods has never looked comfortable against southpaws, and (d) Cloud leaves the opportunity for a right hook counter wide open, and the right hook is one of Woods’ best punches.
Is it possible that Woods aged overnight against Tarver? Possibly, but he did have a dominant win over Elvir Muriqi, who I thought drew with Tarver.
Could be a solid scrap either way. I’d bet on it going the distance though. I can’t remember either fighter ever going down.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
by Brickhaus on Aug 25, 2009 1:00 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Woods looked 1000% better against Muriqi than he did against Tarver, and it wasn’t just that Muriqi is no Tarver or a bad style matchup. Clinton was out of sorts somehow against Tarver. He did not look like he wanted to be there.
by SC on Aug 25, 2009 1:02 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Are you trying to say that his game plan;
which consisted of chasing down Tarver, then raising leather and standing stock still waiting for Tarver to throw first, before repeating the same routine again, was NOT the best way for him to fight?
Boxing is the beginning of all sports. I'm willing to bet that the first sport was a man against another man in a fight. (Omar Epps)
by Chaos100 on Aug 25, 2009 9:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I am more impressed that he somehow got a picture of mr cloud brick….
"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."
by Zocalo on Aug 25, 2009 1:01 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Woods v Cloud / Urango v Bailey if you live in UK or Australia
The only place to watch this double world title live or delayed in the UK or AUS is at www.SecondsOutTV.com – enjoy
by SecondsOutTV on Aug 26, 2009 1:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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